A gilded girl and the power pillager Chapter 4 - the power pillager, a percy jackson and the olympians fanfic

Summary: Luke is possessive, obsessive, and powerful. The gods are at his mercy and Olympus is within his grasp. But, he's not done yet. After all, every king needs a queen… and this time, she will never leave his side again. Dark Luke. Thaluke. Thalia and Luke. Some Percabeth and Annabeth+Thalia friendship.

For the purpose of this story: The prophecy mentioned 21, not 16, as the age of the child. Luke is 20 years old and Thalia is chronologically 19 years old. However, Thalia looks like she is 18 years old due to the whole pine tree slowing down, but not stopping, her aging. Percy and Annabeth are 16 years old.

Other timeline notes: Luke met Thalia when he was 10 years old (thus Jason 'died' when Thalia was 9 years old). The duo met Annabeth when Luke was 13 years old. Grover found Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth and led them towards camp half-blood when Luke was 15 years old. Events of the first book happened when Luke was 19 years old and Percy was 15 years old. Thalia was thus a tree for four and a half/five years.

Disclaimer: Anything from the Percy Jackson and the Olympian books belongs to Rick Riordan. Plot twists, new dialogue, and [spoiler alert] new prophecy are mine. If I did own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, well Thaluke would be alive and kicking butt ;)

On with the fourth chapter!

Chapter 4: the power pillager

On with the fourth chapter!

Chapter 4: the power pillager

On with the fourth chapter!

Chapter 4: the power pillager

Time passes.

Thalia can walk now.

Well, at least, she can walk a few paces before collapsing. She can sit up by herself too. Right now, she is sitting on the bed with her back against the headboard and her legs sprawled on the bed. Luke mirrors her position next to her.

They only just finish talking about that time they taught Anna how to climb a tree, laughing over how Anna ended up better at it than the both of them, when Thalia decides she wants a shower. She tells Luke as much. Tells him to hurry up and get out and bring Mitera in. His smile gives way to a mischievous smirk before responding. "Sure you don't want my assistance instead?"

Despite the fact that he is covering his intentions with a joking tone, she is not ignorant of the way his gaze drifts along her curves.

She isn't entirely sure if she minds, which is terrifying.

She can't bring herself to respond.

Luke leaves the room and is replaced by a solemn-looking Mitera who helps her walk to the bathroom. Thalia can stand on her own now, and shower too, but she can't walk more than a few paces.

Thalia turns off the tap, then turns towards the towel Mitera offers her. Thalia dries herself off, and stretches out her hand expecting to be handed the a cleaned version of her cotton t-shirt and pajama pant set (annoyingly stamped with various fury woodland creatures).

The silk placed into her hand is not the familiar button-up cotton t-shirt and pajama pant set.

Thalia just stares at the thing in her hand, dumbfounded.

She looks for the t-shirt and pajama pants she was wearing before her shower, and does not find them. Her gaze falls back to the article of clothing(?) still in her outstretched hand. It is too thin, too short, and she refuses to wear it.

"I don't do lace." She manages to squeak out, before finding her voice again and being more vocal with her protests.

The ever-unruffled Mitera ignores her and raises a brow starchily. "The only alternative is the soaking wet towel that you are currently struggling to keep up."

Thalia glares at the wet towel that barely covers more than the dark blue shiny thing that is still in her hand will. Thalia puts the offending night dress on angrily, snidely congratulating Mitera on the longest sentence she has heard the red-haired girl string together.

Luke doesn't let the door shut from Mitera's exit before he enters the room. He freezes when he sees Thalia sitting on his bed. His feet stay planted, but he leers greedily up and down the curves lined in blue, and stares hungrily at the smooth skin dusted with lace. His staring is searing her skin and she feels a burning behind her eyes. Old Luke never looked at her like that. She hates it.

"You're not twelve anymore Thalia. You know what I want… You know it's more than a kiss."

His voice is too close, too hoarse, and deeper than she has ever heard it. His eyes finally meets her own and she is startled by the intensity of his gaze.

His pupils have exploded. His green eyes are almost black from lust and desire.

The hunt will never take her after this, if she lets him have her. She should be passionately refusing. She should be screaming at him. She should be threatening him with death should he dare come near her with such desperate lust-blown eyes. Instead, what she hears leave her mouth is a quiet plea for more time. "I'm not ready yet. Luke, please."

...Luke, please."

Her last two words comes out breathily, and his name on her lips in such a tone is all it takes. The threads carefully reigning Luke's self-control snap.

She is pinned between him and the mattress.

Luke's hands are warmer than ever as they find her waist and haul her against him. The smooth material of the night dress moves languidly across her skin when his hands start rubbing in circles over it. The lace trimming of the hemline rises dangerously higher on her thigh with each rotation.

"I'll take care of you, don't worry. I'l always take care of you."

His words come out as a low growl. He swallows her objections with a kiss that is deeper than it has ever been. One of his hands stops its roaming of her hips to grip her jaw and force her face closer to his. There is a stronger intent behind this kiss. It is bruising in its intensity. There is no more hesitation from him, no careful consideration of the girl he wants.

He is going to devour her.

His hands wander up then down, taking the barely there straps of the dress down with them. His hands begin savagely feasting on her bare curves.

"Luke, please stop," She forces her pride to ignore the begging in her tone. She also forces herself to ignore the hardening mass she feels against her thigh "Please, don't." Her body turns weak and rigid again, unable to move and unable to protest his pawing.

He's going to force me.

Tears stream down her face uncontrollably.

"If you ever truly cared for me, stop Luke!"

Some part of Luke registers her panic, the palpable horror exuding off of her in thick waves.

He brutally yanks himself onto his back next to her. In the process of doing so, he tears his hands and eyes away from her body. His breathing is hard and he can feel himself shaking from the self-restraint. He continues to face the ceiling, with one hand over his eyes. With every deep breath he forces himself to remember that he loves her, and that you don't force people you love. He tells himself that he can wait, that he will wait, because hadn't he already waited five years? He can force himself to wait just a little bit longer.

He hears her sniffle, and the guilt rips his heart in half.

He gets up, roughly pulls open a drawer to grab a towel and clothes, then stalks over towards the bathroom and slams the door to it without saying a word. Thalia hears the shower turn on, but she is still frozen, afraid of what he will do when he returns.

When he comes back with tissues, she still hasn't regained movement of her body, and she is well aware of just how much of her torso is still bare to him. He removes the shirt he only just put on, and Thalia's heartbeat thuds to a stop, fearful that he will continue where he left off.

Instead, the shirt stays in his hand, and he steps towards her only to help her into it. He uses the tissues crinkled in his hand to wipe her face, before throwing them into the small plastic waste pin below the desk.

Then Luke slowly pulls her into his arms. He holds her against his cold skin tightly, but loosely enough that she is not entirely uncomfortable. His buries his face into her neck, and her face ends up buried into his neck. He uses his hands to guide her own so that they end up splayed over his chest, and his heart beat steadily thumps beneath her fingers.

"Go to sleep, Thalia." He whispers.

She is ready to sob in relief.

"Thank you." She whispers into his skin. Don't you dare thank him! He is a monster! He was going to force you!

He responds only by holding her tighter.

Luke leaves the sleeping girl in his room the moment her breathing evens out. He quietly retrieves another shirt from his drawer, and slips it on before leaving the bedroom. As he shuts the door, he leans his back against it, trying to take deep breaths. He is glad there are no other rooms in this hallway, he doesn't need anyone witnessing his feeble attempts to bring his raging hormones back under control.

He doesn't trust himself near Thalia at the moment. He is just about to make his way to the training rooms to let off some steam when he hears someone approaching. He doesn't need to turn to identify the owner of the quiet steps.

He hears a sigh of annoyance before her reprimanding begins. "You did not do it." Mitera accuses.

Luke glares at Mitera. "I didn't want to force her. I won't force her."

Mitera sneers. "You have done much worse than forcing an unwilling girl to reach our goal. Or have you forgotten all the blood we have spilled over the past seven months. Has your desire to see Olympus fall wavered?

Luke's glare intensifies. "No. If anything, it has exponentially increased." Luke's fists tighten at his sides. "They are the reason she won't be with me."

Mitera rolls her eyes. "Luke, I will not expect you to force her, but in turn... you cannot expect her to love you."

Luke expression looks as if she has slapped him. He reigns in his growing ire, before stating emphatically, "She does love me." At Mitera's pitying look, Luke continues. "She does. She just doesn't remember. She's just a little confused right now…"

Mitera cuts him off. "The girl spent five years trapped, and you have her trapped again. She is becoming dependent on you, because she has had no one else for months. You should utilize her desperation. She won't ever give you her heart, but you can still take her body—"

"And be like every Olympian who raped their way through cities?" Luke sneers. "No way in hell. You of all people, I would think, would understand why I will not force her." His anger begins to seep into his tone. "And I would appreciate it if you left your little tricks out of my relationship with Thalia. If I hadn't recognized that Chris was spelled by you, I would have killed him. Still considering it, actually."

"I thought she would be more inclined to bed her hero. Most girls her age would." Mitera says it clinically, no inflection hinting at guilt of any sort.

"And the little dress-up act you just pulled?" Luke is just barely able to keep himself from yelling. The last thing he needs is to waken Thalia and have her eavesdropping.

"Consider the picture and feel of her in that pretty piece of fabric my apology to you for me taking so long to locate the last relic. I found it. In fact, we should leave for it now."

Luke's anger is quickly replaced quickly by the thrill of the upcoming quest. Excitement begins to pump through Luke's veins. He feels the lure of more power, of finding the last piece of the puzzle. "Well," Luke smirks, "what are we still doing here then?"

Luke never questions the integrity of Mitera's desire to see the gods fall. He knows her story (or at least what she is willing to tell him of it), and understands that she may be the only person on Earth who hates Olympus as much as he does.

He also understands why she plays the part of a callous bitch. If anyone deserves to lash out at the world around them, he supposes she does.

The next morning Thalia wakes up and he isn't there.

Hours pass. The day does too.

She stares at the clock, watches the numbers change, and tries to stay up as long as she can. Eventually she falls asleep, and wakes again. He still hasn't come back.

Another day passes.

She ignores the pangs of loneliness. She should be elated, not disappointed.

'You're being left alone as punishment for not giving him what he wanted.' The voice jeers. 'You should have just given him what he wanted.'

She curls into herself, able to move a bit again.

Luke walks up to his bedroom door, with an emotion just shy of elation vibrating through his every movement. The final relic is secured. Tomorrow he'll be able to siphon its power too.

He is surprised to see Mitera waiting in the hallway leading to his bedroom door. He would have thought that she would be working on healing some of the others who had returned with them from mission for the relic.

He is even more surprised to see a first aid kit hanging from her hand, since she didn't need it to heal.

She answers the first question in his eyes. "I healed them all, no major injuries. I noticed you had a scrape through." She points to his ribs.

Luke looks down, lifts his shirt a bit, and sees the small cut. It's barely there, already congealed. Or at least it was, until it suddenly grows deeper and longer. He hisses in pain, and glares at Mitera's glowing eyes. "What the fu—"

She smiles. "I have an idea."

End of Chapter 4

Hmm... I wonder what's up with Mitera? Would be interesting to hear your theories on her backstory ;) There have been some very, very subtle hints thrown here and there. Hint: google her name hehe

So maybe Luke isn't entirely evil quite yet, but he's definitely on his way there. What do you guys think he's gathering the power for?

Poor Thalia, I think I loved her because she was so independent and sassy, so I'm kind of annoyed at myself for making her so weak in this fic (granted, that may only be for a few more chapters)

One more chapter to go before my little New Years blitz ends. Want more? Please review! I love getting constructive criticism. Is there a passage that is beyond confusing? A grammar/spelling mistake (or multiple)? A piece of the story that just doesn't make sense? P.S. What are your thoughts on the previews, yay or nay?

Preview for Chapter 5: knows

"You really are pretty," she hiccups, "I'm sorry for it. Men use pretty things

...

Thalia flinches, then she turns, intending to leave before the inebriated woman puts her words to practice and sells her daughter to the next big wig casting director. Thalia doesn't entirely trust that Beryl won't.

...

Luke's stare hardens at her words. "That's not fair… you can't say things like that, and then flinch when I touch you.

...

Without him she's lonely and desperate for his presence. She doesn't know who to blame for her growing dependence on him.

...

Chiron has all but begged Poseidon to let the young trio be informed of the prophecy, if only to save them from killing themselves on another misguided (if well-intentioned) rescue mission.

...

Annabeth looks at them all with hard eyes. "She is the best of us. She gave up her life to save me. To save you" Her glare focuses on Grover briefly before she continues "…To save this entire camp. She is more brave and more loyal than anyone I have ever met. Thalia would never betray us."

Athena sighs at her daughter. "I understand your affection for her, Annabeth. But you have to remember… she was his before she was yours."

...

She remembers Thalia's hollow eyes and empty smiles and for the first time doubt nags at her heart. She wonders if perhaps Thalia doesn't want them to find her.

...

"… sky in silver … gilded girl … gods be gone … Olympus will fall …"

...

That night, she hears Percy again. "Don't trust him, Thalia."

...

"Do you truly think she'll ever forgive you, Luke? Maybe there is a part of her that cares for you, but she will leave you as soon as she learns how you're using her to—"

Luke's glare silences his so-called father and all but hisses, "She'll always love me. I'll never let her leave me. She is mine."